⋆˙⟡There’s no prize to perfection⋆˙⟡

☆ Ren // 30 // ♑ // AroAce ☆

[smolstarthief]

Minus well make a pinned post!

"There is no prize to perfection...

Only an end to pursuit."

~Viktor/The Mage, Arcane

Hey guys! Welcome!

~Ren

~Capricorn

~He/They

~Specializing in gaming, writing, angst, analysis, and edits!

~18+ only guys! No minors allowed here.

~Proud cat dad

~Just trying to vibe here

Not accepting or taking commissions! At all, sorry!

🚫 No AI art or anything of the sort and no usage of any work I do in AI

Weebly Site

Writing WIPs

~"Prison of Grief" (A Zenkichi Hasegawa Palace Owner AU) with @creepymarsh

Status: Ongoing, ON HAITUS/BREAK

~"Maybe You and I… We Can Light Up the Night"(Herald of the Firelights AU)

Status: Prologue being typed out!

~"New Life, New Rebellion" (JayVik (From "Arcane") crossover with P5R)

Status: Being redone!

[aroaesflags]

Revised aroace flag after some conversation among community members! The old flag I made can be found here, but I decided to change it after some criticisms that I received. This was primarily made with the experiences of aroaces who don’t split their attraction in mind since that’s how I feel and why I made it in the first place (also why it’s not purple and green) but any aroace-spectrum person can use it and there’s no need to credit me as it’s meant to be a community symbol. If you want things with this flag on it, check my Redbubble!

Ap/hobes and Ex/clusionists don’t interact

Color meanings are under the cut!

Keep reading

[smolstarthief]

New Life, New Rebellion AU rework: What's Being Changed?

Hey guys! Just popping in between trying to get shit done and irl chaos (trailer park managers are no joke sadly and I'm surprised that I don't have grey hairs at 30 yet) and figured why not go into small detail and what I'm gonna change in this AU moving forward. Some very minor and some major perhaps. Let's dive in!

Minus well also give a preview of how the entries will go as possible titles too:

Prologue- From a Butterfly and Into Chains

Act 1- Storming the Castle of Lust

Act 2- Closing the Museum of Vanity

Act 3- Robbing the Bank of Gluttony

Act 4- Exploring the Pyramid of Wrath and Cracking Masks

Act 5- The Fall of the Thieves and the Spaceport of Greed

Act 6- The Casino of Envy and the Herald's Disappearance

Act 7- Corruption on the Cruise Ship of Pride and Revelations

Act 8- Down the Arcane Depths

Act 9- Escape from the Laboratory of Sorrow and Mending Rifts

Epilogue- A New Life Awaits

Strikers? Tactica?

A possible Strikers entry is definitely something I want to consider. Even more ambitious is that I would maybe consider recycling my own previously planned Strikers Rewrite AU featuring Sumi, Akechi, and Maruki! But that's something to be decided later down the line and how well things go.

Tactica I don't know really? Maybe? Tactica I kinda feel so-so towards admittedly so far but I didn't finish yet so that could change!

Viktor's Persona is being replaced

Yep, after a lot more thinking, I'm gonna give Viktor a different Persona! Based on none other than Faust, namely Goethe's take on him in a play version of Faust's story/legend. I was looking into more ideas and stumbled upon the overall story and it just fits Viktor to a T (someone else also compared him/his arc to Faust as well on here too so I wasn't alone on that). So his primary/1st Tier would be Faust of course while his 3rd Tier would be named after his apparent inspiration: Johann Georg Faust

Of course which variant of his name is up in the air for now but still! So far I was thinking simply Georg to differentiate from Makoto's Persona name and such but we'll see. Speaking of Viktor though...

Viktor's Herald form will play more of a role and I decided on the type of Persona for him

I decided that his Herald form would be more prominent in this story. Namely a form he can change into while in the Metaverse which will later bleed into the real world when Yaldy and later Maruki starts interfering. Much like his powers in the initial concept, the overuse will slowly start to kill him until Jayce finds a way to stabilize all of it. From a gameplay standpoint/scenario though, it gives a similar vibe to Zenkichi's Fury ability mixed with how Showtime attacks are triggered. It would be a special ability he could shift into but it does have specific conditions and side effects. Namely a slow health drain each turn/use due to his canonical health problems/condition and seems to trigger in specific situations such as when Joker, Jayce, or any if not all teammates are knocked down/stunned. Basically emergency/last resort sort of ability along with a way to make him seem less op on it. At least post stabilization that is.

His Persona type I grappled with on and off and even did a quick curiosity poll and well... It humorously ended up 50/50 with half being Navi and the other half being a mix of both Navi and Combat. I think the issue I have is that he's not really the kind of person that would take things lying down the more I thought about it. At least post-canon.

If anything I think going by P5X's combat roles/Persona types for a bit, I think Viktor would be a Strategist and/or Saboteur role(s) whereas Jayce would be more of a Guardian and/or Sweeper role(s).

Point is, I think Viktor wouldn't be the kind to want to stay idle himself.

Plus I'm sorry, as much as I can subscribe to him not being a completely violent person (along with his Arcane VA's own statement), I started to feel like, upon further inspection, he seems to bottle up a lot of negative feelings or even resentment deep down. Especially with Jayce's actions so to Yaldy, he's probably easy prey. Especially once Shido briefly gets his hands on him. All of it just waiting to blow and with the situation he was in? Wouldn't blame him. He literally chokes the life out of Jayce more than once in the show (at least twice if I counted right) so that's one example in a sense. And considering how the Metaverse is like an outlet for everyone to cut loose without judgement, yeah I can imagine some possibilities with him. That and chatting with folks and oomfs just gave me more ideas on what direction I want to go with regarding him and his arc in this AU.

Butterfly effect and defying fate would be a big theme for both their arcs in this one and why Jayce got a Persona before him. It's also what would ultimately break Viktor's potential rebellion for a while as Yaldy sorta represents complacency and he would be guilting him whenever he tries to defy the rules of the game. I'm considering that one particular thing about Viktor's abilities is that courtesy of Yaldy he can have specific dreams/visions of bad endings/scenarios which transfers to Jayce sometimes and yet due to Yaldy himself constantly rigging the game, they're unable to warn anyone other than vague statements or urging (ex: one of the deadline endings? Subtly urge the group to pick up the pace) so it eats away at him until he breaks completely.

At least that's the general thing I'm thinking right now. I'll mostly just see where this goes as I write and see what ultimately works and what doesn't for his character and there doesn't seem to be enough deep dives about the darker aspects of his character and actions while still making it clear that he's a kind person who wanted to help people.

Arcane's world will possibly play a role too

I was originally gonna keep it completely out of it but then I decided that I'm gonna have Arcane's universe along with maybe some characters make appearances outside of the duo. Namely a small side plot involving the Metaverse and the Arcane being tied together in this AU and "Rifts" being created the more Mementos gets investigated. It ultimately reaches a head in 3rd Semester where Maruki's reality combined with Viktor's abilities enhancing them actually bleed out into Piltover and Zuan. This would cause other characters to look into this as a result. Piltover would also be the new setting for the in media res framing I'm doing as a nod to P5's with Joker's interrogation. This time it would be a trial Jayce and Viktor get taken to for their actions in the past and present (Viktor namely but Jayce willfully volunteers as well). I'll try my best with this one so this will be a doozy and possibly fun worldbuilding.

Finally (for now), Jayce and Viktor will be separated at the beginning!

Yep! Decided to separate the two at the beginning! Namely because I want them to figure things out individually for a while and I'm gonna have JayVik be a MASSIVE slow burn as they have a good amount of issues to sort out first.

So Jayce would be found and taken in by the Yoshizawas (as he ends up getting hit by Mr. Yoshizawa's car by accident, reopening his leg injury), Mr. Yoshizawa basically allowing him to stay with the family and even giving him a job at the TV station for a while as he recovers. He also bonds with the twins which can lead to a fun little study on the two of them individually (which contributes to Jayce being not as lenient towards Maruki after learning what he did to Sumire but he ultimately respects her opinion about him along with Viktor's).

Viktor was hard as he could end up with any candidate due to the state he gets found in (limping in nothing but that blanket wrapped around him) along with how the system in Japan apparently works and then a funny idea hit me: It would be much earlier before P5R's events so what about the Hasegawas (Basically he abruptly gets dropped into Zenkichi's care until everything such as paperwork and files get sorted out)? Admittedly because I really want to write Aoi more and it feels like it would be pretty funny depending on how you interpret Viktor's views on law enforcement in general. That and maybe be a bit of a bad influence to Akane (or at least that's what Zenkichi would think whereas Aoi is like, "They'll be fine you worry too much"). But also some fates might be changed in the process due to timeline interference being another possible recurring theme. Aoi still dies but Zenkichi and Akane might not only stay longer but maybe have different paths as well...

They both would reunite and due to unexpectedly witnessing a good amount of things (Finding Mementos, Jayce's awakening, Kasumi's death, Aoi's death, and then a mental shutdown/psychotic breakdown incident), they get offered a job at Shujin as a teacher (Jayce) and a replacement school nurse (Viktor) respectively along with a place to live which they accepted albeit unaware that it's Shido's machinations at play after Akechi expresses his own suspicions about them. THEN the main game starts after this. Phew!

So that's about it regarding changes! I'm open to suggestions and such so bye for now!

[smolstarthief]

So this sad Arcane HC just popped up while planning out a scene where Viktor first officially interacts with Joker at Shujin and just wondered if he was in a similar situation as the poor kid regarding being unfairly labeled as "dangerous." Namely during his early academy days and that could add onto why he took huge offense to Jayce calling people from Zuan/The Undercity "dangerous" during that one argument.

Complete with wild rumors and downright messed up assumptions from "he's hiding a weapon in his cane" to something even outright ableist like "he's faking his disability to let people's guards down and lash out at them when they get close."

I know he already implies that he became an outsider the moment he "stepped foot into Piltover" but mostly mentions his disability and background (namely that he's poor/lower class with no patron or well known name to speak of) which makes sense but I also can't help but think about how Joker gets treated throughout P5 and wonder if Viktor himself had to deal with that during his time at the academy and just opted not to mention it in order to focus on motivating Jayce.

Either way, it would also be painfully ironic too with that in mind since I can't help but also feel like he had to have been involved in dangerous situations (fight or flight) just to survive when he lived in Zuan since it's already implied he has no parents to speak of (the closest being Singed but obviously that didn't go well) and the place is/was no picnic, pacifist or not. Honestly, Viktor's overall thing with violence (doesn't like or approve it but willingly does so anyway later as his sanity dwindles. But then again, he clearly is holding in A LOT of feelings and such) and how he feels about it is super fascinating in general but that's a whole other topic. You can be a pacifist but still consider violence/confrontation as a last resort at the same time.

That can contribute to why he seems to have had to keep a lot bottled up inside until he couldn't anymore.

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

this post will find you when it needs to find you.

just some facts: you are loved. you are not alone. you are valuable. you are worthy of good things. you are deserving of self love and forgiveness. i’m glad you’re still here.

[smolstarthief]

So I looked up for a better look at Viktor's MH form and holy cow he does look pretty Adam Kadmon coded!

Sadly doesn't have much regarding nail polish rizz though... Unless you can consider him a skinnier goth version of Adam? 💅

Eh, either way though! Now I can't get the funny image of Adam doing MH's nails out of my head now! 😂

Viktor concept art by Victor Maury:

Viktor - Arcane Season 2, • Victor Maury •

I’m not going to lie, this is an emotional one for me. No single post could capture the journey and evolution of this concept. The countless

[bugs-in-a-trench-coat]

[smolstarthief]

Ok soooo... I have a headcanon and it's fully related to these shots here. All because I was trying to plan and think about how to do the "Am I interrupting" bit in my crossover AU between this show and Transformers Prime.

Basically what hit me was: "Wait a minute... How and why was Viktor even here just as Jayce was gonna end it all so suddenly? There's no way he could have known Jayce was even there until that point."

Then I remembered these shots in particular! He was there throughout Grayson's questioning towards Jayce until the latter complained. He just seemed kinda interested despite a good amount of it being cut off but the moment Jayce spoke up he goes back to a sort of professional (maybe even stern/cold) demeanor as he questions him along with the sheriff. Maybe just maybe he was already intrigued by what Jayce might be working on but squashed it out of his mind for a while until the trial. Maybe even dismissing it as Jayce just being another student/peer that was in over their head (come on I can't be the only one who feels that Jayce wasn't the first instance of Viktor being sent to do/oversee something in Heimerdinger's place right?).

Honestly, while it's sorta vague unless you look into lore perhaps, it's pretty clear that Viktor had dreams and ambitions of his own and he no doubt felt an opportunity when Heimer offered him a place at the academy. Sure it required leaving his home but hey, at least he can accomplish those dreams and even help his people right? But then reality hits him. Not to mention his later illness. He even implies that he was immediately looked down upon by others. Both for his background and even disability if him referring to himself as a, "poor cripple from the Undercity" is enough of an indication. Even so, the spark he had was still in there, remember what he later says to Jayce when asked why he was willing to risk everything:

"Do you think it was my life's ambition to be an assistant? Scientists seek discoveries - ways to make the world a better place!"

So when Jayce spoke of his Hextech idea at the trial, that was when the spark came back to him. Even still, he does try to do things the less risky way with trying to convince Heimerdinger but it fell on deaf ears so it was then that he had to decide quickly: Risk it all for one chance to make a difference or stay complacent. He naturally chose the former.

But anyhow, back to what I'm trying to say as a HC: What if due to not knowing where Jayce was, Viktor decided to go back to the apartment and go over everything himself with the journal he stole from the office to fill in some gaps and/or even make corrections via that board? Sure he does try to find Jayce along the way since it was HIS idea and he deserves credit but no luck at that point and time was short. Jayce returning would be more or less luck on his end. What if the moment he shows up, Viktor remains quiet at first. He's unsure of how to approach or what to say considering how he acted towards/treated him earlier at first until it became clear that Jayce was gonna end it all. So he immediately says this iconic line:

"Am I interrupting?"

And it could also explain why it started out awkward at first besides the obvious reasons. The point is that these small moments probably foreshadowed that Viktor was always intrigued by what Jayce was working on but squashed it out at first and when Jayce fully explained at the trial, it reignited the spark that he's had which in turn gave him enough inspiration to rebel in his own way and take a risk that ultimately paid off (well, at first at least...).

[smolstarthief]

A part of me can't help but feel like the political aspects of Arcane get brought up so much (notably in fandom arguments or even the occasional "arcane critical" tag) that it seems like some of the meaningful messages get overshadowed and as much as it's not always a bad thing to debate, I feel like some of said messages should to be talked about more. Even just a tiny bit or something? And that's regardless if some of them were intentional or not, some of them are pretty good and effective.

Like come on: Break the (especially toxic) cycles either yourself or someone before you started? Love is powerful but also nuanced and multifaceted (as we're shown genuine but also twisted examples of it)? Not everything is black and white, especially in regards to conflict or trauma? Hell, as flawed as the "beauty in imperfections" speech can be it's not necessarily a bad message either (at least on paper depending on who you ask)?

Idk maybe I'm a bit naive or something but these are primarily things I feel like clinging onto and help see of the show's positives more. Like I said, the political discussions/critiques aren't always bad per se (I did stumble upon some interesting ones, including one that brings up how Zuan actually gets woobified to the extreme by the fandom which is interesting but I wonder about regarding hindsight). i just wish they weren't always the constant focus the more I think about it.

[rowenaluvr]

✶ . ၄၃ . FIC WRITER ASK GAME !

any [insert __] is for the sender to fill in :)

1 ⧽. if you could sit down and finish any one of your wips without anything stopping you (time, tiredness, etc), which fic would you choose? tell us about it if you want!

2 ⧽. if you could sit down and finish any completely new fic without anything stopping you (time, tiredness, etc), what would you write? tell us about it if you want!

3 ⧽. what's something you like about your writing?

4 ⧽. is there an au or trope that you haven't written before, but would want to try?

5 ⧽. is there a certain kind of fic that feels the most satisfying to finish? any reason why?

6 ⧽. if you were to write a part two/sequel to a fic, what fic would you want to write it for?

7 ⧽. is there a fic you wish you received feedback on, but didn't get any/much? this ask game is asking someone else to then give feedback on said fic, pretty pretty please!!!

8 ⧽. what part of [insert fic] is your favorite?

9 ⧽. tell us about a wip/idea that you're excited about!

10 ⧽. what genre is generally the easiest or most enjoyable for you to write? which is the hardest?

11 ⧽. if you were to rewrite [insert fic] with [insert different character/ship] how do you think it might change?

12 ⧽. what's a song or two you associate with [insert fic]?

13 ⧽. do you have any writing projects/goals/plans you're working on/want to work on?

14 ⧽. is there anything outside of your normal content that you want to write?

15 ⧽. if you wrote a fic called [insert title] with [insert character/ship] what do you think it might be about?

16 ⧽. if you wrote a fic called [insert title] what character/ship would you want to write it for?

17 ⧽. are there any songs you want to write a songfic for?

18 ⧽. how do you want your writing to feel to your readers?

19 ⧽. give a hint/teaser about something you're writing without any context or explanation! tease us haha

20 ⧽. answer any one of the other questions that you want to!

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

you get a comment on tumblr. it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a DM. it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a message on instagram. its a bot trying to scam you. you're an author and you get an email telling you how much they loved your book and want to showcase it at their bookclub. it's a bot trying to scam you (and it uses bad AI to pretend it knows your story). you get a comment on ao3 saying how much they love your fic - and they made you fanart!! it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a hate comment on ao3 which insults your writing or calls you a monster for writing something "problematic". it's a bot. but at least that one isn't trying to scam you.

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

there's just something really cruel and insidious about this wave of scams going after creatives. You get an email and think someone genuinely loved what you made but - no. It's another scam. It's someone trying to trick you into sending them money. On AO3, it might literally just be a bot someone made specifically to be a hateful little shit.

putting the stuff you've made out there for everyone to see is hard and scary and we're all just bumping around looking for a bit of appreciation and love and connection and these bastards are using that to try to rob us. I hate it.

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

Im going go get into the sea and stay there

[laxosceles]

It's not the most positive post-canon, but I'm sure that if Arcane had allowed them to survive, it's unlikely that their bodies would have been free of any consequences after contact with him 🥲

[smolstarthief]

So I decided to get the demo of Tomodachi Life Living the Dream and its Mii limit is 3 for now so of course my first two Miis are these two!

Even better is that they're vibing very well so far! Wonder what'll happen next when I get the full version and add more Miis (planned fandoms so far are: Arcane, P5, Hazbin/Helluva, and maybe Transformers Prime or even Gravity Falls if I have enough room by then)?

[smolstarthief]

An update on these two:

YESSSSS! I NEEEEEED TO GET THE FULL GAME!!!!

[smolstarthief]

So I decided to get the demo of Tomodachi Life Living the Dream and its Mii limit is 3 for now so of course my first two Miis are these two!

Even better is that they're vibing very well so far! Wonder what'll happen next when I get the full version and add more Miis (planned fandoms so far are: Arcane, P5, Hazbin/Helluva, and maybe Transformers Prime or even Gravity Falls if I have enough room by then)?

[smolstarthief]

Ok but I can't help but start thinking that they would at least be good drinking/smoking buddies if they met and got to know each other yeah?

Troubled dads with rebellious/hotheaded/impulsive daughters (I know Vander's are adopted but still)

Love their children despite everything

Hotheaded and impulsive themselves sometimes

Tragic dark and troubled pasts that involved trying to do good but failed horribly which haunts them in present day

Guilty of complacency

Seems shady but huge softies

Wolf/dog/hound motifs

Papa Wolves©️, especially regarding their pups being hurt/in danger

Lets themselves get arrested in someone's place and to protect said someone (Zenkichi = PTs, Vander = Vi)

Huge trauma and baggage

[smolstarthief]

Did you ever have moments where you think, "wait that's it" regarding a fanfic writing slump you were stuck on while listening to music in the car? Well that's precisely what happened to me, I just had such a moment!

At least I think so. Regardless, much thanks to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Mockingjay Part 1's renditions of "The Hanging Tree" for that moment! ^_^

Though that would mean a lot of shit I planned out for Herald of the Firelights prologue is gonna be changed or cut but you know... What the hell? I like experimenting sometimes!

[smolstarthief]

Now that I thought more about it, Lucy Gray Baird from TBoSaS is actually much closer to how I actually imagine/HC Viktor's mother! Personality and a little appearance wise! All the way down to suddenly shouting, "YOU CAN KISS MY ASS" after singing a song in defiance/protest (bonus points if it's towards Enforcers). That and to be fair I do often either associate Viktor with either butterflies or birds sometimes so that's still something that still feels in line to how I imagine things.

Honestly, I did consider song to be one of the things that enables Viktor's father to win her over finally (that and one other thing) as she does challenge him sometimes and she would frequently sing at The Last Drop between her job as a healer. And him being able to harmonize with her without fear of humiliation if he messes up is part of what finally lowers her own walls.

Idk I just continue to enjoy planning out and thinking about what they were like for this AU and maybe outside it!

[smolstarthief]

I kinda want to do a SkyVik gifset with this song because idk it just made me think of them, especially with Hexcore!Sky in S2 (and that's regardless of the interpretation you go with).

(And yeah I can also see this as JayVik coded as well but come on though, let this pairing have this one really as a treat!)

"I was only in my mind, you were on the outside waiting...

I could feel you all the time, your voice could save me!

Now all these sirens sing for me but I just wanna hear your melody.

I call and I can hear you sing but ohhh, it's only my echo!

...It's only my echo!"

[smolstarthief]

Eyyy I found another one for everyone's consideration!!!

"Why are you never real?

Whenever you appear, you leave me with that grace...

I am trembling with fear but I know that you will disappear.

Just as I awake... Whisper in my ear...

Well, I believe somewhere in the past... Something was between you and I, my dear and it remains with me to this day...

No matter what I do... This scar will never fade.

So let's make trouble in the dream world, hijack heaven with another memory now.

I make the most of the turning tide, it just split what's left of the burning silence.

Don't wait, 'cause this could be the last time you turn up in the reveries of my mind..."

[swtorlordcytharatfan]

Stay your pretty eyes on course ...

My Viktor version with gold glowing eyes, cosmic nebulas and black armor. Have fun.